Hollywood ships and silver submarines: World's top five 'boatels'

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN

Updated 6:57 AM ET, Wed March 13, 2013

World's top five boatels10 photos

All aboard – In her previous life, the 1907 SS Yankee Ferry transported new immigrants from Ellis Island to New York City. Today, she has been converted into a floating hotel, permanently moored in the Hudson River.

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World's top five boatels10 photos

Inspiring interior – SS Yankee's unique bohemian interior is the work of artists Richard and Victoria Mackenzie-Childs. "People expect to see a stale museum, but Yankee has a great richness in her structure and history. Her interior is just another one of her smile wrinkles," Victoria said.

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World's top five boatels10 photos

Rescue remedy – The Harlingen Lifeboat once cruised the North Sea as part of the British Royal Coastguard, before being brought to the Netherlands by a lifeboat enthusiast.

Majestic mariner – The Queen Mary set a new benchmark in transatlantic travel when she was launched in 1936. "She possesses an almost tangible magic. Captain Jones would often say the Queen Mary is the closest thing to a livin' bein' that he ever commanded -- she even breathes," Commodore and maritime historian, Everette Hoard, said.

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Hope floats – Screen star Bob Hope (center) was one of many celebrities who stayed on board the Queen Mary, jumping aboard for her final passenger voyage before World War II.

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Sub plot – The World War II USS Silversides Submarine was saved from the scrapyard by a group of former Navy personnel who towed it to the Muskegon Channel in Michigan in 1987.

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Bunking down – With more than 70 bunk beds on board, the Silversides is a popular destination for school groups.

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High and dry – The Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's Southbank is perhaps the last place you'd expect to find a boat. But look up on the roof and you'll see boatel-cum-art installation, A Room for London.

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Bird's eye view – "There can be few places to stay a night in London quite as unusual, poetic and life-enhancing as A Room for London - a boat perched, as if by retreating floodwaters, on the very edge of the Queen Elizabeth Hall," said organizers.

Story highlights

Top five from across the world include WWII submarine and 1960s lifeboat

Perfect for guests wanting water views with the convenience of dry land

Not all float on water -- art installation, A Room for London, perched on building

What do you get when you combine a hotel and a boat? Inevitably, you get a boatel.

Catering for those who seek the romance of the high-seas without sacrificing the creature-comforts of dry land, an increasing number of enterprising hoteliers are converting historic vessels into over-night stays.

Top Olympic sailor embraces new venture

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The new home of sailing?

Boasting five dining lounges, two cocktail bars, a swimming pool, ballroom, squash court, and even a small hospital, the whopping 310-meter cruise ship set a new benchmark in transatlantic travel when she was launched in 1936.

During World War II, the historic vessel was stripped of her luxurious amenities and painted a camouflage gray as she transported more than 16,000 troops across the world.

Fast forward to today and the Queen Mary has been restored to her former art deco glory, though her sailing days are long over.

Instead, guests can stay in one of 314 original staterooms and nine suites, in her permanent home in Long Beach, Los Angeles.

We all live in a silver submarine

History buffs can experience life as a World War II sailor -- without the combat -- aboard the historic USS Silversides submarine.

The mighty military vessel sank 23 Japanese ships during the war, making her the third most prolific U.S. submarine of the time.

The 95-meter vessel, popular with school groups, features 72 bunk beds, giving youngsters the chance to step back in time and dream of life as a wartime sailor.

Guests can also take part in a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) design class, including lessons on building their own underwater robot.

An adjoining museum also features artifacts from the Pearl Harbor attack and a 70-seater theater screening archival naval footage.

Room with a view

Not all boatels have to float on water though. Perched on top of London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, this fantastical boat looks out over the city's River Thames, Big Ben and St. Paul's Cathedral.

A Room for London is a one-bedroom installation intended to be a space for artists, writers and musicians, to stay for one night and create new works inspired by the great city rumbling beneath them.

The building is based on the Roi des Belges, the riverboat that author Joseph Conrad sailed up the Congo in 1889, and later used as the inspiration behind his famous book Heart of Darkness.

The modern reincarnation however, includes a crow's nest, octagonal library and a cabinet of visual curios.

"With its combination of painted wood and hand-worked gold and silver coated metals, it seems to echo the simplicity of a Japanese tea-hut or the rural haphazard quality of a midwestern farm building," said organizers.